Darkness at edge of Mozart's 'Magic Flute'
• By JACI WEBB jwebb@billingsgazette.com
• Feb 17, 2017
Beautiful arias sung in a mythical land where the
lines blur between good and evil — this is opera at
its best.
Mozart’s glorious music in “The Magic Flute” paired
with libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder weaves an
adventurous tale into life’s affirming message that
love conquers all. NOVA Center for the Performing
Arts will bring the two-act opera to the Alberta
Bair Theater stage for one performance at 7:30 p.m.
on Saturday, Feb. 25.
"The Magic Flute" will be sung in German with
English supertitles with dialogue spoken in English.
The cast includes many familiar faces, including
Daren Small, Amy Logan, Ross Coughanour, and Lukas
Graf, and introduces Billings soprano Brooke Moncada
in her first major opera role as the Queen of the
Night. Moncada will perform perhaps the most
familiar aria in opera, hitting one of the highest
notes a human can produce, an F6 note.
“It’s a very difficult soprano, which is why I’ve
been working on it since August,” Moncada said.
Billings theater fans will recognize Moncada because
she has performed in several local productions,
including “August: Osage County” and “25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee” at NOVA.
At 24, she is one of the youngest cast members in
“The Magic Flute.”
'Reverse puberty'
Transitioning from musical theater to opera has been
a big leap for Moncada, who studies voice with Doug
Nagel at Montana State University Billings, where
she is majoring in mass communication.
"I’m going from an alto to a soprano; it’s like
reverse puberty,” Moncada said.
The Queen of the Night is notoriously bad, but
Moncada said there is an element of uncertainty
about her true character. The audience must decide
whether she is good or evil.
Karla Stricker is also stepping into a leading role
with her portrayal of Papagena, the perfect woman
for Papageno, played by Ross Coughanour.
“I’ve sung in every Billings opera since 2009,”
Stricker said, noting that it's way more fun being a
central character.
The conductor and director, Barbara Day Turner and
Daniel Helfgot, respectively, are a married couple
from San Jose, Calif. They have helped produce
several operas in Billings over the last two
decades.
'Funny, charming'
Helfgot praised “The Magic Flute” as the ideal opera
for first-timers.
“It’s moving, it’s funny, it’s charming, it’s
fast-paced and easy to understand," he said.
Collaborating with a spouse makes the process
smoother, Turner said. Married for 35 years, they
prefer to work on projects together because they
respect each other’s strengths.
Neither one is the ultimate boss of the stage,
Helfgot said.
“Everyone has the same level of importance, from the
person who makes the shoes to the person who hits
the high notes,” he said.
Because Turner and Helfgot work in other genres,
including musical theater, they bring fresh ideas to
opera. Turner said she is impressed with the level
of excellence the Billings opera community brings to
its productions.
"Rimrock Opera and NOVA have done a great job
nurturing local talent. And it's amazing to me that
you have such a strong audience for opera in
Billings."
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